Public appointees – the numbers:
- there are currently over 4000 public appointees across the UK
- ministers make around 400 appointments to these roles every year
Public appointments play an important role in the governance of our public bodies. It is therefore only right that these appointments are regulated to ensure that there is transparency in the process.
Public appointments are regulated by a Order-in-Council and a Governance Code. You can find information about each below:
Public Appointments Governance
What is a public appointment
A public appointment has no exact definition – typically it could be a chair or non-executive director, for a board of a public body, a member of an advisory committee or an office holder.
There is a wide variety of public appointments, from those at local levels, monitoring the operation of local prisons, national parks or flood defences, to others that help steer the direction of well-known national institutions like the NHS and some of the country’s largest museums.
Public Appointments Order in Council
The statutory basis for public appointments is an Order in Council. The annexes list the public bodies and offices to which public appointments are made. The Order also provides for an independent regulator, the Commissioner for Public Appointments (CPA), who ensures that appointments are made in line with the Governance Code. Find out more about the Commissioner via their website.
You can find out more about the Public Appointments Order in Council via the button below:
Public Appointments Governance Code
This Order provides for a Governance Code which is published by the government and sets out the process and principles for how public appointments must be made. The Commissioner for Public Appointments is responsible for ensuring that all public appointments to bodies and offices listed on the Order in Council are made in line with the Governance Code.